Train-order holder



E. H. SMITH.

.TRAIN ORDER HOLDER. APPLICATION FILED MAY 5.- 191'9.

awwm/tez THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0.,- wASHINdTON. D. C.

EMERSON HOWE SMITH, 0E PARSONS, KANSAS.

TRAIN-ORDER HOLDER. v

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 5, 1919. Serial No. 294,717.

To all whom it may concern:

'Be it known that I, EMERSON Hown SMITH, a citizen of the United States,re-

and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Train- Order Holders; and I do declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description 5 of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertalnsto make and use thesame.

This invention relates to train-order holders, and especially to theclass of holders to be held in the hand of a person to deliver a messageor train order to an engineer or other person on a train.

It has come within the observation of the inventor, who is atrain-master, that many accidents and fatalities have occurred topersons delivering messages or train orders with previously devisedmeans for delivering messages, such accidents and fatalities usuallyresulting from the inability of the person to deliver the messagewithout standing too near the passing train or locomotive. Moreover,because of the weight, non-resiliency and other inherent features ofdevices previously known for this purpose, the hand of a personreceiving the train message is likely to be injured by its contact withthe message-holding device when the train is moving very rapidly, andfurthermore, in view of the foregoing dangers, and the timidity whichresults therefrom, a failure to deliver the message is often the result,and very serious accidents occur because of such failure.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to overcome the foregoingdifliculties and disadvantages by providing an improved train-orderholder which is exceedingly light and resilient consistent withsufficient length, breadth and strength to render it perfectlyeffective, eflicient and practical, and thereby to minimize danger tothe deliverer and receiver of messages or train orders.

Another object is to provide an improved device of this character whichis very simple of construction and can be manufactured at a very lowcost.

Other objects and advantages may become apparent to persons who read thefollowing details of description in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:-

slding at Parsons, in the county of Labettev 'Figure 1 is a sideelevationof my improved train-order holder with a trainorder heldthereby.

Fig; 2 isan enlarged detail view illustrating the spring element forholding the message.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view along the line 33 of Fig. '1.

Fig. 4g'isf-an edge view illustrating the wedge-shaped member detached.

"Referring to these drawings indetail, in

which similar reference characters correspond with similar partsthroughout the several views, the device consists of a racketshapeddevice comprising a member 5, a wedge-shaped member 6, a spring 7,'asecuring wire 8 and securing elements 9.

The member 5 consists of a strip of hickory wood or other relativelytough, strong and elastic material of comparative lightness; the endportions of the strip being brought together in juxtaposed parallelrelation and secured to one another by means of the nails or othersecuring elements 9 so as to form a handle, as indicated at 10, themiddle portion of the strip being formed into a loop 11, andintermediate portions 1'2 converging from the loop to the handle. Thewedge-shaped member 6 is secured between the converging portions 12, andthe spring 7 has its intermediate portion seated between the member 6and one of the portions 12, a groove 13 being provided in the member 6to receive the said intermediate portion. An aperture or lateral bore 14is formed in the wedge-shaped member 6, and the inner end portion 15 ofthe spring 7 is seated in this aperture to prevent the spring 7 fromturning or becoming otherwise disengaged from its seat. The outer endportion 16 of the spring 7 constitutes a clamping element whichcooperates with the inner surface of the loop 11 to clamp a message ortrain-order, as indicated at 17, this end portion being preferablyformed into a loop or eye, as illustrated, to provide a convenientmanipulative means for moving this clamping element away from theadjacent surface of the loop 11.

In order to generally strengthen and stiffen the device and to obtainthe best clamping results from the spring 7, the wire 8 is pre erablywound not only around the outer sides of the strip 5, but crosses itselfbetween the diverging portions of the strip immediately above thewedge-shaped mem- Paten ted July 8, 1919.

which comprises a clamping ber 6, and this not only prevents the Wirefrom slipping longitudinally of the strip, but also acts as an auxiliarymeans 'for holding the Wedge-shaped member -6 in its seat. The strip 5is preferably about eight feet long and one-quarter by one-half inchesin cross section, so that the complete holder is approximately three andone-half feet long, the loop being about fourteen inches across, and theWeight of the entire device is approximately six ounces. However, theinvention is not limited to these exact dimensions nor to the exactconstruction and arrangement as described, but changes inay be madeWithin the scope of the inventive idea as described and claimed herein.

What I claim as my invention is A train-order holder comprising a stripformed into a loop and a handle and having portions converging from theloop to the handle, said handle comprising the united end portions ofthe strip, a Wedgeshaped member between and secured to the convergingportions of the strip, and a spring having its inner end portionembedded in said Wedge-shaped member, the outer end of said spring beingdisposed in said loop and forming a clamping element to hold atrain-order to be delivered, said Wedge-shaped member being providedwith a groove extending longitudinally thereof and containing theportion of said spring between said inner and outer end portions.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

EMERSON HOWE SMITH.

Copies of this Epatent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, 'D. G.

